Accelerated Cultures
by Influence
Summary: Three former Rogues are captured by a warlord. Guess who turns up to save them after being away for 36 years!


**Disclaimer: I don't own them.**

Notes: The Reganians are a fierce race of humans from the Pegasus Galaxy. They are allies of the Tau'ri and had their evolution (social, cultural and technological) accelerated by Carie Serrano (also known as Lara Notsil), who later became a high-ranking officer in the Reganian military. The Tau'ri and the Reganians have the same values and are not people who should be trifled with under any circumstances. They defeated the Wraith and several other enemies with a minimum of ships and weapons.

Carie Serrano was trained in the use of the Force by the Capsei sect after fleeing the Republic, being chased by NRI agents. After three years, she left and discovered a natural wormhole to the Pegasus Galaxy. Single-handedly accelerating the evolution of the Reganians, she enabled them to fight against several outside threats and now leads them into the wider Universe as a major extragalactic power.

43 ABY, Outer Rim Territories, Warlord Srilik's Empire of Light

An old woman, about 60, wearing a military dress uniform, was pushed into the office by Srilik's men. She stumbled, but caught herself and stared defiantly at the warlord. "Admiral Serrano of the Reganian Defense Forces," Srilik purred. "How kind of you to join us."

She looked around the office, and smiled dryly when she saw Wedge, Tycho and Wes cuffed to their chairs. "As always, Warlord Srilik, a displeasure."

Srilik turned to the three Generals. "Oh, but of course, you know the dear Admiral by another name: Lara Notsil." Wedge looked closer at the woman, and he saw the resemblance. Lara smirked at the three.

"Hello. It's nice to see you all again, but unfortunately I have to _cut_ this little visit short." A lightsaber came out from under the couch and ignited itself, slicing through the admiral's bonds. Wedge boggled; Lara hadn't shown any sign of Force sensitivity the last time they had seen her.

Of course, the last time had been 36 years ago.

Admiral Serrano stood up and grinned. Taking the lightsaber in her hand, she said, "Feel like surrendering?" She casually cut the bonds that held Wedge, Tycho and Wes down.

Instead of standing, they just sat down, patiently waiting for the next strange thing to happen.

They didn't have to wait long.

A group of commandos burst through the door and took up positions behind their admiral. "Admiral Serrano," the leader reported, "the compound is secure."

"Thank you Captain." Serrano just stared straight ahead at Srilik, who was beginning to take on a pasty look. "Still don't want to surrender?"

"I still have a fleet in orbit," Srilik said defiantly.

"A fleet which will be blasted into nothing by a) The Alliance, who are annoyed at the fact that you've kidnapped three Generals; b) The Tau'ri, who you've somehow managed to piss off despite being in another galaxy; and c) the Reganians, who are more than slightly pissed at the idea of you in control of this galaxy. And we can't forget the Echani, who want to kill you for just being such an arsehole. All four civilisations are equally as powerful working together or apart, and all four are really ticked off right now."

Wes smirked at Srilik. "Looks like you're in trouble."

"More than he knows, more than he knows," Serrano said. "Look at it this way, Srilik," she said threateningly, "either you can surrender or spend two months in a bacta tank healing from the injuries I'll give you." She took up a battle stance with her lightsaber held vertically in front of her and the commandos behind her aimed their assorted weaponry at Srilik. Together, they were very imposing. "Which is it?"

In reply Srilik brought a comlink out from underneath the desk and pressed a button twice. In orbit, hundreds of soldiers were now scrambling to get into shuttles and down to the planet. Serrano shook her head. "Wrong move." She held up a comlink of her own and called her fleet. "Attack."

Dozens of ships appeared out of hyperspace over the planet and began attacking the fleet. Soon enough they were joined by Tau'ri and Alliance ships, who fought fiercely. They provided cover and escort for small drop-ships filled with Echani warriors who landed on the planet. "It's over, Srilik. Whether you surrender or not, we'll win."

Srilik slumped back in his chair, but his eyes showed that he still had some fight in him. Suddenly he whipped out a blaster and fired five shots towards Serrano. She shrugged, an action that took a small fraction of a second, and moved her lightsaber to block four of the five bolts. The fifth was absorbed straight into her left hand, and she used the energy from that to pick Srilik up, rip the blaster from his hands, and leave him dangling in the air with the tip of her lightsaber at his throat. "You know, I don't really have a problem with killing you," Lara said conversationally, "except for that the trial would be so much more satisfying."

"Lara," Wedge said suddenly.

"Yes?" Lara asked without taking her eyes off Srilik or turning around.

"You're a very scary person."

One of the commandos snorted, and Lara turned to smile at Wedge. "I know. But some people just won't listen, and you have to be scary in order to knock some sense into their heads."

Wedge, Tycho and Wes exchanged a glance. It looked like Lara had learnt a fair bit about command since they had seen her last. Which would explain the 'Admiral' part.

Several days later, all four officers were in a courtroom, attending the trial of (former) Warlord Srilik. All four civilisations had agreed to share their information about Srilik's crimes, so he could be charged with all of them, not just the few that had been committed against one people. The list of charges against Srilik had been long for the Alliance, but the Tau'ri and the Reganians had their own equally long lists of crimes.

In the end though, Srilik was placed into a high-security prison, with the promise of death from the Echani if he ever escaped. All parties were satisfied with the results, and had even decided to become allies and share information and technology. General Cracken and several other officers had attempted to arrest Admiral Serrano (without realising that she was an Admiral) and were faced with drawn weapons from half of the room. After apologising, the party went smoothly.

Admiral Serrano herself had a wonderful time reuniting with all of her friends, and surprised some by using the Force to drop ice-cubes down Cracken's back.

**This was a very random story (I feel really sorry for Lara), but please review!**


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